New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar has issued a stern warning to Pakistan, stating that “India is ready to strike anywhere in Pakistan if provoked by terrorist attacks”. This statement comes nearly three weeks after a brief but intense conflict between the two nations ceased under a ceasefire agreement.
The conflict began on May 7, 2025, after India launched “Operation Sindoor,” a military campaign targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir (PoK). This operation was a response to the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians. India accused Pakistan of supporting cross-border terrorism, a claim Pakistan denied.
Dr. Jaishankar emphasized that Pakistan’s reliance on terrorism as a state policy is the root cause of the conflict. In an interview with POLITICO, he said, “It [Pakistan] is a country very steeped in its use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy. That is the whole issue.” He further asserted that Pakistan is training thousands of terrorists “in the open” and unleashing them on India.
“As far I’m concerned, how effective the Rafale was or frankly, how effective other systems were — to me, the proof of the pudding is the destroyed and disabled airfields on the Pakistani side,” he said. Asked if the conditions that led to the outbreak of war last month were still in place, he said: “If you call the commitment to terrorism a source of tension, absolutely, it is.”
The External Affairs Minister highlighted the effectiveness of India’s military strikes, stating that the country’s fighter jets and missiles severely degraded Pakistan’s military infrastructure. He pointed to images available on Google showing destroyed and disabled airfields on the Pakistani side as evidence.
Dr. Jaishankar said, “The fighting stopped on the 10th for one reason and one reason only, which was that on the 10th morning, we hit these eight Pakistani airfields, the main eight Pakistani airfields and disabled them. And don’t take my word for it, these are images that are available on Google. You can look at those runways and those hangars, which have taken the hit.”
Dr. Jaishankar’s statement also underscored India’s willingness to take action against terrorist organizations and their leadership, regardless of their location in Pakistan.
“We are not going to live with it. So our message to them is that if you continue to do the kind of barbaric acts which they did in April, then there is going to be retribution, and that retribution will be against the terrorist organizations and the terrorist leadership,” he said. “And we don’t care where they are. If they are deep in Pakistan, we will go deep into Pakistan.”
Jaishankar, who was in Brussels for high-level trade talks with the European Union, further asserted that Pakistan was training “thousands” of terrorists in the open and “unleashing” them on its southern neighbor.
The ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan was reached after a series of military strikes and counter-strikes, with both countries claiming victory. The conflict marked a significant escalation in tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations, with the international community closely monitoring the situation.
Dr. Jaishankar’s remarks signal a strong stance against terrorism and a willingness to take action against terrorist organizations in Pakistan. The statement also highlights the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, with both countries maintaining a delicate ceasefire agreement. The situation remains volatile, with the international community likely to continue monitoring the developments closely.
